Rangers
by RecklessEntity
Summary: A boy's rise to manhood, and his chosen place in life as one of the mysterious Rangers.


As you should know, this story is based in a world I've created. Any resemblance to other media are purely coincidental. Medieval times, people.

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- It is said, that the King's Rangers of Everwood hold the lives of twenty four men in their quiver.

Prologue:

The boy felt his blood rushing and his arms straining. His eyes darted around as he scanned the trees, looking for a target. He saw it, and took his chance..."AREN!" He shot the arrow and it flew way off course, dooming itself to the bushes several dozen yards away. The fluffy white rabbit turned its head, and within a second was gone, deep into the forest. Aren cursed under his breath, and turned around. He saw his sister in the distance and yelled back. "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" He saw her jump a little, and felt better. _Dumb wench_ he thought to himself. He was about to get dinner for the next day with that kill, and he felt he should use it against his sister instead. _It'd be a waste of an arrow_ he thought to himself and chuckled. His sister finally regained her courage and ran over.

Barely ten years old, his sister Danika was freakishly tall. Standing at roughly five feet six inches, she almost towered him. And yet she was the most timid person he knew. He loved her, yes, but damn was she annoying sometimes. "What do you need that's so important you have to interrupt my practice?" His sister looked back and thought to her self, _Practice? What kind of idiot practices with a bow made out of twigs and rats tail?_

She almost voiced the thought, but remembered how her brothers palm was always on the ready to discipline her, so she smartly ignored the comment. "Mother wants you to come home. She says father is coming from the castle, and we'll get to see him for a week!" Even Aren grew happier at this. His father rarely came home, and if he did, it was to pick something up or to tell his mother he'd be gone out of the Fief for a long time.

Aren's father was a Knight of the King's Regiment, Fifth Battalion Lieutenant, and was christened Sir Duncan the Red Leaf Knight. In his Fief of Daraen, Duncan was well known for being one of the only men to raise up from a poor childhood and make himself a known man.

He married young, to Aren's mother Elise, and beat his way through the Academy of the Kings Army corps. All the while supporting a child and wife. Aren was young at the time, but knew his father was a hero. Since hearing about the Knight of the Kings Army through his fathers night time stories when he wasn't too exhausted to tell them, Aren had wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps. But the odds were well against him.

Aren was fifteen years old, barely of age to drink in Everwood, and was not nearly the strongest child in the fief. He was five foot two inches, and his musculature was composed of what's known as 'wives muscles'. His arms were skinny, but toned where he could hold them up for hours on end and not be tired. The same with his legs, and his chest was very undefined, but again, lean.

Overall he looked like he belonged to a league of messengers, not Knights. But he would not let the fates stop him.

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When Aren arrived home with Danika a little less then half an hour later, his father was already home. Danika screamed and jumped into her fathers arms. Being so tall, she almost knocked him over with her leap. Aren, trying to seem more man like, simply nodded at his father, and stood rigid. Duncan, his father, smiled happily and took the boy up in a big bear hug, and Aren laughed brightly. His father knew he was trying to act like a man, to make his father proud. What Aren didn't know was that his father was as proud of his son as he could get.

In his school, he was top notch in grades, and a mathematical prodigy. Quite possibly the brightest boy the fief had seen in a long time. He would grow to make an amazing courier, or King's assistant with his fathers reputation. But Aren did not want to be a courier, or assistant. Aren longed to be a knight. His father's name made people cheer…what would his? Nobody would remember a librarian. Actions speak louder then words, so books were basically mute, he figured.

But none of that mattered to him right now. He was with his father, so it was going to be a good day. Or week, as his mother proclaimed.

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It was not even two days later, when his mother and father came back from the village buying groceries for the week, did a knock come upon the door of their small village home that would change Aren's life.

His father answered the door, and another Knight, dressed in full battle armor, showed himself. Duncan immediately recognized the man and spoke quietly. "Horace, you know I'm vacationing with my family. The King has two hundred other knights, can't he bother one of them?" Duncan spoke harshly. The man named Horace looked back red faced. "It's- It's not about you, sir. The King requests to see your son."

At that moment, everyone turned to Aren, who looked back with food in his mouth, and spoke, spewing out crumbs "Whafat?"

Chapter 1

Fallan was a sorcerer brought into this world by nothing human, or even natural. He was a hell-spawn to the very meaning of the word, both physically and mentally. A hunched back figure with distortions of the face and limbs, he was considered a monster as a child. Nothing to him was free, and he worked for every bit of respect he gained.

But somewhere along his life, he pierced the veil of innocence and showed himself as the true man, or creature, he was. When all was said and done, Fallan was banished from the land of Everwood, and was cast out as an exile, and traitor.

For many years ago, when Fallan had his shroud of innocence intact, he worked for the King as a healer, and being born outside of Everwood, an ambassador to lands far off.

But Fallan was born evil, this was a fact. He couldn't keep his shroud for long. And the perfect opportunity rose up for him to banish it and show his true colors.

The war with Malcallan, the leader of the eastern lands of Riverdag, was a corrupt tyrant who ruled the lands with an iron fist. Everwood, being one of the purest and kindest lands in the land, was quick to help in Riverdag's recovery of Malcallan's evil reign.

But, at a major turning point in the war, where Everwood had invaded Riverdag, and had the tyrant Malcallan cornered, Fallan cast the die of betrayal, and sent Everwood into a spiraling defeat that would take years to recover from.

You see, while Riverdag cheered on in Everwood's help in the war against the tyrant, some people who believed in the tyrants reign wanted Everwood gone…Permanently.

Fallan had been in such a stronghold position in the King's throne, being a general of the peoples army, he had much control over the war.

Fallan was a master tactician, and though it is a treacherous and vile thing that he did, it was revered in the battle as the turning point of the war. His maneuver was even christened a name. 'Fallan's Retreat'. Fallan used the King's army against him. In the battle of Dilicard, a fief in the north in Riverdag, he told the Army to retreat, as he had gotten a tip that Malcallan was deep in the western territory. He did this without consulting any of the generals, and, while holding such a high position, the soldiers believed him one hundred percent…

They fell back west, attacking Malcalllan's disguise position in the fief of Deral.

However…What was waiting in Deral was not Malcallan trapped. It was the entire south army of Riverdag, all loyal to Malcallan.

They attacked without mercy, and the Army of Everwood, tired and weary from the trip, was defeated helplessly. Over six thousand men were lost, due to one mans betrayal.

Fallan wasn't seen again until the end of the war, which was salvaged due to the efforts of the Rangers.

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The Rangers are a secret brotherhood, known as a folk tale and legend. Rangers were very real however. Composed of two hundred or so members, they were the smartest, most capable soldiers and warriors the King had to offer. They were scouts to the very meaning. Heading into enemy territory, using supposed 'sorcery' to conquer their enemies, they stayed invisible to the people of Everwood. These Rangers were a secretive people, that only the King and several of his higher-ups knew of.

The Rangers were lonely people, who took company in their selves, and the many animals they used for scouting techniques which were unknown to the rest of the world. These were the ghosts you needed to call in when the cards fell into the pile, and everything was out of control.

The situation in Riverdag had turned from a rescue mission to a fight for the lives of the people in Everwood.

Only the help of the Rangers saved the war.

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The tyrant Malcallan was safe in his eastern lands, as far from the action as he could get. However, the Rangers were given a tip that he'd be moving out of his land to make morale speeches and recruit more fighters in the western border, but only for a fortnight.

The window of opportunity was small, and didn't allow any mistake. Which was good, considering the Rangers never _made_ mistakes.

An elite force of four was sent to track Malcallan, including a famous Ranger by the name of Remilan. Remilan had worked his way through the Rangers, earning top marks on every one of his missions, and was the best choice for the mission that would decide the outcome of the war.

After a week of waiting, they made their move.

Malcallan was traveling along a trail barely ten kilometers away from the western border, with his escort of a hundred armed troops on horseback, when the Rangers struck.

Using their ingenuity, the Rangers were able to overcome the hundred troops using tactics which in most places were considered magic. They cut trees to the very edge before hand, and triggered them to fall on the troops, which crushed the life out of them. They manipulated the light to form creatures in the air, some of which were part of Riverdag superstition and religion, and made the troops scared and confused.

Total chaos raged, and the troops ended up killing their own more then the Rangers. Not a single Ranger was harmed, and the tyrant Malcallan was taken prisoner.

Malcallans supporters fell apart, spreading to other county's and leaving the war to end however it would.

The King saved Riverdag, and made his land safe again due to the Rangers help…But now, Fallan was back.

Chapter 2

"Danika, if you don't shut that mouth of yours, I'll shut it for you. Permanently" growled Aren, grumpy from the ride to the castle, which was taking longer then he had expected.

Everyone was surprised when Horace, the man at the door, had announced that Aren was needed at the castle with his father, immediately. The King promised his father would get his vacation time back, but he was needed at the castle, and it involved Aren. That's all he was told, and they were carted off, leaving his mother Elise at home to tend to the farm for a few days.

For some reason, Danika had been chosen to come along as well, and, being so young, couldn't stop babbling on about her excitement to be invited to the castle.

Beside all annoyance, Aren was shocked, and a little scared to be honest. Being invited to the castle was nothing short of an honor considering the leader of the entire Kingdom lived there, the Good King Crowley, as he was christened from his many supporters.

Crowley has been the king of Everwood for almost twenty five years, and not a single man has stepped up to over take him, simply because it wasn't _needed._ He was the best king to ever grace the land, and it has been in the finest state it's ever been in, both economically, and physically. The people were happy, and that's all that mattered in a kingdom.

The simple fact that Aren was going to meet a man like the King, was rather hard to believe, considering, even though his father was a knight, he was still treated as and accounted as a peasant.

When they arrived at the castle, Aren was out of the stage coach faster then anybody, including the driver. Castle Daraen was one of the grandest castles in the entire kingdom, and it was regarded as the most well protected. The walls of the castle reached up to the skies almost a hundred feet, and were practically impossible to climb. The walls shimmered as they stood over Aren, staring up in amazement. The walls were made of a condensed form of Magnesium, which, when flattened and set clearly, was slippery and glimmered in the light. Any ropes would simply fall off the walls if they were thrown, and if any ladders were sent up, they'd be incredibly long and almost impossible to climb without the weight of them tipping it over the edge.

Needless to say, Danika and Aren both shut up when they were lead inside. They may have been excited, but they weren't stupid. This was a castle, filled with royalty and nobles. Any horse-play would get them more then the average punishment.

The castle was even grander on the inside then it was the outside. The foyer, or main courtyard area, stood out over a garden of some of the most beautiful and exotic looking flowers that Aren had ever seen, and he marveled at the simple elegance they brought upon the cold, stone walls.

His legs were weary from walking the many, many steps up to the castle, but he didn't show any sign of it now. Too happy to be in such an incredible place, he made sure he did his best to keep posture and look presentable. Meeting the King wasn't something one did every day.

Aren and his father were ushered into the 'waiting room', or at least it seemed to be from his point of view. A man came out, who was very portly. He was wearing clothes that stuck to his figure like honey stuck to paper.

"Sir Duncan, your son and you are expected. Please, may your daughter stay outside, for the minute?"

My father nodded, and we walked inside. The King's royal office was nothing like Aren expected, or at least not at the moment. He had imagined neat, fine rows of books on the shelves, animal heads of many kinds high up on the walls, fine oak floors, and the king sitting in his chair happily waiting. No, what he saw instead, was much, much worse.

The Good King Crowley was not in his seat. Instead, a man known as Cornelius Hedge sat in the King's royal throne, and he looked tired.

Not the normal, sleepy tired people get when they stay up. Hedge was a mess. His clothes were wrinkled and dirty, his eyes were barely open, and were red to the point of imitating a cherry. His usually clean, shaven beard was growing out unevenly, and he looked desperate for help.

He looked up at us, and scattered some of the many papers that were on his desk, and floor, away from him, and cleared his throat quietly.

"Well, as you may have noticed gentleman, I am _not_ Crowley."

Chapter 3

Within seconds Aren's father was on the man, almost stabbing him with a sharp quill he'd snatched from the desk, holding it to his throat.

"Where is the King!?" He choked, more desperate then threatening. The man known as Hedge simply looked up at him, and shook his head back and forth.

"If you'll sit down gentleman, we have some very important news to discuss…"

And with those very words, started the moment Aren would make his legacy in the world.

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End file.
